


The Wolfman (Gotham City Chapter)

by Sam4265



Category: DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Haly's Circus, Happy Ending, M/M, The Wolf Man (1941) - Freeform, Unhealthy Relationships, no capes AU, themes of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 16:40:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12868683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sam4265/pseuds/Sam4265
Summary: In the heart of Gotham City a Wolfman falls in love with a circus boy, and it’s all downhill from there.





	The Wolfman (Gotham City Chapter)

June

They met at Haly’s Circus on a Saturday. It was a slow day for the circus, but Dick was making the most of it. He’d performed in the afternoon show, and would be performing again that night. In the meantime he was sitting outside the fortune teller’s tent doing five dollar palm readings. He was just finishing with a little girl. She’d come up to him clutching a bright pink balloon elephant and had asked to tell her about her about her future.

“I want to know what happens when I’m old,” she’d said. “Like thirty.”

Dick had laughed and told her he saw a pony in her future, as well as a handsome prince. Her mom looked at him like she’d just wasted five dollars, but the little girl was so delighted that she’d handed Dick her little elephant and practically skipped off.

“Wow, if you can make me that happy I think I’d pay you way more than five dollars,” a voice drawled to Dick’s left. “More like, ten. Maybe fifteen if my prince likes to bottom.”

Dick snorted a laugh and turned to look at the man talking. He was tall and broad, with thick black hair and brilliant blue eyes. Dick smiled flirtatiously up at him.

“What if I throw in a bubble gum castle and a magic snowman that sings Let It Go on repeat?” Dick asked. The man put on a thoughtful face.

“I don’t know, you drive a hard bargain. I’m not sure I’m willing to pay any more than fifteen for the bubblegum castle.”

“And the snowman?”

“I’ll only take it if I can train it to play S&M during dinner parties.”

“I think something can be arranged,” Dick said, holding out a hand to shake. “Dick Grayson, resident fortune teller, and trapeze artist.”

The man grinned.

“Wow, so you can tell me my future and contort your body in weird but sexy ways? I think I’m in love. No, wait, it’s just the circus hotdogs. Jason Todd, bartender,” the man said, shaking Dick’s hand.

“You’re funny Jason Todd, what bar do you work at?” Dick asked. Jason shook his head very seriously.

“That’s classified. I can only tell you if you promise to let me take you on a date anywhere but said bar.”

Dick grinned.

“You’ve got some gall.”

“Well I’m just trying to pick up the hot, flexible psychic who’s so pleasant he can con children into giving him their balloon animals. You know, easy targets and all that.”

Dick considered. “You have a point. Me and Mr. Peanut will have to converse, but you probably have yourself a deal.”

“Probably?”

“It depends on what you think of Mr. Peanut joining us on our date. All he needs is some peanuts and he’ll be good.” Dick said, patting the fluorescent pink elephant on the head. Jason snorted.

“Imagine that. I think something can be arranged. I do work in a bar, after all. I practically live in peanuts.”

“Fair point, Mr. Peanut and I accept. You can pick us up at the entrance at the end of the day.”

“Sounds good Danny Torrence, see you at nine?”

“Ten.”

“Ten it is.” Jason waved goodbye, and Dick used the elephant’s tiny flexible arm to wave back at him. As soon as Jason was gone Dick bit his lip and tried not to giggle like a schoolgirl. It had been a long time since he’d last had a date. Months, probably even close to a year. He was getting desperate if he was being honest, and a date with a handsome funny guy was exactly what he needed. He held up the pink elephant and looked it straight in the eye.

“You better not screw this up for us, buddy,” he told it. The elephant looked at him in contempt. Dick left it on the table.

\----

That night Dick met Jason at the entrance for Haly’s circus. He’d come directly from his act, so he was still covered in glitter and blue and silver makeup. He actually still had his leotard on, he’d just put sweats on top. He suddenly hoped Jason wasn’t planning on taking him anywhere fancy. Though to be perfectly honest, Dick was apprehensive about meeting Jason dressed in his circus clothes. He didn’t want Jason to dislike him, but if Jason didn’t want to be with a circus boy, Dick needed to know right off the bat.

Jason pulled up at exactly ten o’clock in a busted up old chevy convertible. It had a hood that looked like it could be removed if it wasn’t rusted to the doors, and was a what had probably once been a very nice shade of red.

Dick opened the door and stepped inside.

“Sorry about the makeup,” he said, nerves swirling in his stomach. “I just came from a show.”

“Don’t apologize, you look fantastic. Like a bird, a pretty bird.” Jason said, smiling. Dick smiled back and shut the door with finality.

“So, no elephant then?”

“Mr. Peanut and I decided we needed to spend some time apart. We were smothering each other,” Dick replied. Jason smirked.

“Too bad, at least you’re free to go your own way now.”

“Yeah, and which way would that be?” Dick asked, watching as Jason turned the corner away from the circus.

“It’s a surprise,” Jason said turning onto a main road.

“You’re not going to kill me are you?”

“What kind of man would kill the hottest piece of ass he’s seen all year?”

“Only all year?”

“Shut up.”

Dick grinned.

Only a few minutes after they’d left the circus they found themselves at the entrance to the Gotham City mini golf arena. Dick laughed and turned to Jason.

“I warn you, I’m awful at this.”

“That’s fine, I like taking candy from babies anyway.”

The night passed too quickly for either of their liking. The mini golf course was fairytale themed, and while Jason couldn’t quite get the werewolf hole down, he did indeed win. It was the dragon hole that took Dick off the playing field, but he didn’t mind. Jason was fun, and it had been a good night. They planned a second date, and both went home happy.

 

July

The first month of their relationship was mostly smooth sailing. They went on several dates, each more ridiculous and fun than the last. They saw each other often as well, because after that first date Dick had gotten the name of the bar Jason worked at out of him, and discovered that it was only two blocks down from the circus. Haggard’s bar matched it’s name in appearance. It was a dingy once Irish pub that had devolved into a hang out for the truly haggard and most of the city drunks. Jason liked it because drunk’s gave good tips, and because he was slowly working on getting Mrs. Haggard to sell him the bar. Jason worked with his best friend Roy, and really it was a miracle he worked at all. Jason was a werewolf, to put it simply, and holding down a job was hard work for someone who was more animal than human one week out of the month. Those four days of full moon were truly horrible, and the week long absence made it hard for Jason to hold any kind of steady job. Luckily Mrs. Haggard was a bit of a cougar, and as long as Jason worked the rest of the month, she didn’t really mind the four days off a month, especially after he told her he had a cousin with a family out in Bludhaven who he spent the days with. He didn’t really think she believed him, but it didn’t matter because she never asked questions. She even let him have Sunday’s off as well, since she was more motherly than she’d admit and didn’t like to see him waste his life behind a bar.

Work wasn’t the only part of Jason’s life that had been impacted by his persistent lycanthropy. His love life was in the toilet most days. He’d never been one for one night stands or quick fucks, but his inability to hold a stable relationship together had led to a more sedentary life than he’d really like. He was excited about the prospect of having a relationship with Dick, however. The circus life meant that Dick was no stranger to strange hours, and that he didn’t judge when Jason said he took four days out of the month to see his ailing sister and her son every month, no matter how fictional his alleged sister actually was. Dick came by the bar more often than not, and though most days he came with other people like the social butterfly he was, some days he came alone, and spent the night sitting on the very last barstool with a pomegranate margarita in front of him, talking Jason’s ear off. Jason loved it.

Roy was outwardly less than enthused about the nightly doe eyed looks that began to permeate the bar around them, but inwardly Roy was pleased. He and Jason had been friends most of their lives, and they’d been leaning on each other just as long. Roy was the only one who knew Jason’s secret, and  he was also the only one capable of dealing with Jason’s anger when he was close to the full moon. Roy had no place to talk, however, because he was a recovering drug addict and alcoholic. It was a funny world they lived in. Despite their loyalty to one another, the werewolf schtick was wearing thin. Jason was tired of putting Roy at risk, and Roy was tired of being at risk. He had a daughter to think about, little Lian. God forbid Jason ever get near her on a full moon.

Jason had been bitten five years ago and ever since his life had been spiraling slowly down the drain. He was miserable, to put it frankly, but Dick made him happy. He excited him. Dick made him believe that maybe one day it wouldn’t all be so bad. Three weeks out of the month he was a normal man, but for those four terrible days Jason would turn into a rabid beast, a violent angry man by day, and a monster by night. A half wolf, half human beast that hunted human and animal. That would never change, but maybe it didn’t have to be the sole focus of Jason’s life. Maybe Dick could bring some light into it.

That didn’t mean that Jason wasn’t completely unconcerned. For one week out of the month he avoided Dick like the plague, and he made sure there were no dates during those weeks. Unfortunately, Dick wasn’t always with the program on those weeks. It was a Wednesday, two days before the first day of the full moon, and Dick was making a very reasonable request.

“Come on, Jay, it’s just one night. It’s the biggest night of the summer, the pieta of circus festivals. I’m the primary act!”

Jason’s smile lacked amusement. It wasn’t an unreasonable request, was the problem. There was going to be a summertime festival at the circus, and Dick was the primary attraction. A twenty minute act with the death defying Flying Grayson’s, during which the youngest would be premiering a new solo act. Jason had actually looked into buying tickets weeks ago when he’d found out about it, and that was when he’d learned that the festival fell on two of the four days of that month’s full moon. Unfortunately it also fell on a weekend, and Dick’s big day fell on a Sunday, which he knew was Jason’s only day off. Of course Dick wanted Jason to come, and of course there was no real reason for Jason to say no. Unfortunately for Dick, what he did not know was that the festival also happened to fall on two full moon days. Jason would be locked in a basement those two nights, murdering bats and biting himself to death. During the days he’d be inconsolable, agitated, a real nightmare. He didn’t want Dick anywhere near it.

“I’m really sorry, pretty bird, but I’ve already told you, I can’t go.” Jason turned away and began wiping the bar. Dick followed after him, big blue eyes even more pronounced by the blue winged Flying Grayson’s makeup still on his face. Most of the time he didn’t even bother to change before heading to the bar after work. Jason didn’t mind, he was beautiful in his costume. Like he’d said the first day, he looked like a bird, a beautiful blue and silver bird.

“Yes, but you haven’t given me a reason. Come on Jason, it’s just one night, I know it’s your night off. It’ll be fun! Popcorn, clowns, I’ll even tell your fortune for free!”

Jason sighed, his agitation turning to anger. Jason could already feel the wolf clawing at him right beneath the surface. He could feel the unnatural animal anger bubble to the surface. He forced himself to remain calm, Dick just wanted to impress him. He was always showing off, it was probably part of being raised in show business.

“The clowns aren’t helping your case,” Jason bit out.

“But Jason-“

“I said no!” Jason snapped, startling Dick, who stumbled back. Jason slammed his eyes shut and looked away. He forced himself to be calm, digging his nails into the palm of his empty hand. He sighed again and forced the anger to seep out of him. He slumped, defeated.

“I’m really sorry Dick, but I can’t go. I just can’t,” he said, looking up finally. He thought about telling Dick about his imaginary cousin, but he didn’t want to lie to him. Dick still looked a little dazed, but he nodded.

“Right, I’m sorry for pushing.”

He looked so defeated sitting there with his glittery eyes drooped in sadness. Jason bit his lip and swallowed hard.

“I’m really sorry Dick, I really would love to go, I tried to buy tickets weeks ago, but I have a previous engagement on Sunday and I really just can’t go. I’d tell you what it is, but it’s not my secret to tell.” He glanced over at Roy, as if to blame his indecency on him, and almost crumpled with guilt when Dick flashed him a small smile.

“It’s alright, there’ll be more festivals. I hope everything’s alright. In the meantime we can just find other ways to entertain ourselves,” he smirked, kissing Jason lightly on the lips, and popping a maraschino cherry in his mouth. He’d demonstrated his skilled tongue on many a cherry stem before, and it made Jason hot every time. Especially so today, given the full moon’s impending nature.

He hated lying to Dick, hated that he’d spooked him. He wanted to apologize again, tell him everything, make everything right. But he couldn’t, not ever. Dick wasn’t safe from the wolf, no one was, and Jason had to keep him away from it, for both their sakes. Jason didn’t know what he’d do if the wolf killed Dick.

He rolled his shoulders and settled in to watch as Dick demonstrated his talented tongue. While Jason wasn’t looking, Roy walked by and squeezed his shoulder, but said nothing. It was exactly what Jason needed.

 

August

In August there was another festival celebrating Haly’s birthday, and Jason came to every show they had. The festival lasted two days, just like the last one had, and Jason had front row tickets to both night time shows, and the shorter Saturday matinee. Roy said he was overcompensating, but the smile on Dick’s face was worth it. During the day he explored the carnival, and on Sunday he spent the day at Dick’s fortune telling tent.

“You know I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this,” Jason said, looking Dick up and down. He was wearing dark red Hammer pants with a scarf tied around the waist like a belt. He wore no shirt, only a gold vest that was left unbuttoned. There was a scarf tied around his head and he was practically dripping in bangles, pentagrams, and symbols Jason had never seen before. He looked gorgeous.

“But somehow it’s not what I think of when I think fortune-teller.”

Dick smirked at him, “Oh yeah, and what exactly do you picture?”

Jason considered him for a long moment. “Esmeralda from Hunchback of Notre Dame,” he replied with a smirk. “You’d look great in a skirt and heels.” Dick shoved him and laughed.

“You’ll take this and like it,” he said.

Jason had no arguments.

“So why are you the one heading up the psychic booth anyway?” He asked, playing with some of the stones Dick had set off to the side. The tent really was mystical in all the ways a fortune teller’s tent should be. It was a patchwork tent of different colors and styles of fabric. Silk garments lay strewn about the place along with clear, shiny stones and all kinds of magic paraphernalia. Dick was sitting at a small round table with a crystal ball in front of him, examining one of the brochures for the festival.

“I’m Romani,” he replied. “My grandmother was a fortune teller for Haly years ago. My mom always thought it was a bit uncouth, but I always enjoyed watching my grandmother perform, so I took it up when Haly asked. My grandmother used to say that we were descended from real psychics, and that sometimes she’d get real visions. She used to say that my mother didn’t have the sight, but that I did. I think she just spent too much time with a fog machine and dramatic lighting. I always enjoyed it though, so I never complained.” Dick had a fond smile on his face as he finished his story. Jason watched him with a bemused expression on his face. Just when he thought Dick Grayson couldn’t get any more interesting, he had to go and pull real psychic ancestry out of his ass.

“Tell me my fortune,” Jason said suddenly. Dick quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Jason, you know it’s all fake. All flash and no substance.”

Jason shrugged. “So what, you’re grandmother says you're legit and I believe her. Tell me my fortune.”

Jason wasn’t sure whether he really believed that Dick was psychic, especially when Dick himself didn’t even believe so, but Jason had long since realized that there was more to life than meets the eye. He was a damn werewolf after all.

Dick quirked his lips but nodded, “Alright, sit in front of me, we’ll do Tarot cards.”

Jason sat down eagerly. It was lunch time which meant the crowd was slow enough that Dick could risk the time it would take.

Jason watched as Dick pulled an old worn deck of cards from his bag. The backs of the cards were brightly colored in primary colors and gold. They were beautiful, and looked more professional than any deck Jason had ever seen before. Dick shuffled the cards, set them apart into three piles, then stacked the piles together and laid the deck face first on the table.

“I’m going to draw six cards and spread them out on the table, then I’ll tell you you’re fortune,” Dick said, a small self deprecating smile on his face, like he was embarrassed, but Jason ignored it. He was excited to get a reading.

As Dick began to draw the cards Jason suddenly felt his wolf begin to prowl to the surface, as if it had been rudely awakened from slumber. Jason could feel the beginning of the animal instincts taking over, and he clamped down on them hard. This wasn’t a full moon, _he_ was in control. It didn’t seem to matter, however, as the wolf was content to sit in Jason’s chest, watching Dick as he dealt the cards. The whole room seemed to have taken on a strange air, and Jason could feel it practically crackling with energy, though he was unsure whether Dick felt anything at all. His eyes had gone a hazy, milky blue, so unlike the sharp blue they usually were. He dealt the cards slowly and when he was done he looked up at Jason with those milky white eyes and said in a deep throaty voice,

“Death lies in wait for you, an unhappy man,” Dick started, his hand hovering over the Death card, which had taken center stage in Jason’s spread. “But Death is not the only problem you face. It is Love that is your true vice. You love so deeply and so full, and yet the same passion that brings love to you will throw it away with violence and darkness. There is a time of rebirth coming, fear it for it could bring about the end of Love and the beginning of Death.” As he finished his prediction his eyes seemed to clear, and the energy in the air seemed to peter out. Jason’s wolf became bored and settled once more. Jason was staring at Dick, who looked a little startled himself.

“See?” He said, sounding unsure. “Just silly games.”

Jason didn’t believe that for a second.

——

That night after Jason had finished watching the final performance of the festival he took a long walk through the closing circus, and made his way over to Dick’s fortune teller’s tent. He’d been thinking about what Dick had said all night. It had sounded like a real prediction, and more than that the energy of the moment had awoken the monster. _Nothing_ awoke the monster. If there was one thing that Jason knew with absolute certainty, it was that when the moon wasn’t full, he was _human_. Until tonight. He was beginning to wonder if maybe Grandmother Grayson hadn’t been quite so crazy after all.

Jason made his way silently into Dick’s tent, and didn’t announce his presence. He peeked inside the back and saw Dick standing over the tarot card deck, waving burning incense over the cards, and muttering indistinguishable words in a language that wasn’t English. It was probably Romanian.

“Hey,” Jason said suddenly, startling Dick who whipped around quickly. His lips were bitten red with worry, and there were lines in his forehead.

“What’s wrong? What’re you doing?” Jason asked, concerned.

“Oh, nothing, just something my grandmother taught me. It’s a ritual that’s supposed to cleanse the cards of bad energy. I don’t know, it felt like the right thing to do.” Dick was looking back at the cards like he’d never seen them before. Jason swallowed hard, and let the mystery of the night swallow him whole. He’d have to let this one go, as there was no real explanation for any of it.

“Alright. When you’re done do you want to get a beer?” Jason asked. Dick grinned at him suddenly, and nodded.

“I’d love to,” he said.

 

September

September was a long month. It was back to school month which meant more parents at the bar earlier in the day, drinking away the stress of young children. Dick had caught a cold from some kids at the circus, which meant he was on sick leave. What that really meant was that he was sitting in the bar bothering Jason.

“So anyway, I’m aiming for the target, right, and Viktor says all I have to do is aim right at the center of the target, but Mr. Haly walks by and-“

“Pretty bird,” Jason sighed, looking over at him fondly. “If you’re going to tell me circus stories all night can you at least make them ones I haven’t heard before?”

Dick’s nose wrinkled. “Just because you have doesn’t mean Roy has, or anyone else here for that matter.”

Roy looked over from where he was shaking a martini in a metal glass. “Dude, you literally told that story like an hour ago.”

Dick frowned. The cold was messing with his head, that was for sure. He’d told Jason that he didn’t get sick that often, but when he did it really knocked his feet out from under him. Jason thought it was adorable. He was slowly starting to settle into a relationship with Dick. They’d been together just a little over three months, and after the strange encounter at the circus the month before, they’d become closer than Jason could have imagined. It was almost as if there was something else holding them together now. Some invisible string bond that kept them on each other’s toes. The more time Dick spent at the bar the more comfortable Jason felt around him. He could feel himself falling for Dick, and thought that it was completely unfair. He could never do anything, never go far enough for this to really be real. He was a werewolf, and Dick was human. Possible psychic or not, there was nothing Dick could do that could protect him from Jason, protect him from the monster. Jason had planned to keep himself at arm's length, but he was well and truly failing. It was hard to keep Dick away when he was just so intoxicating. It was like every muscle in Jason’s body was wired to him. His instincts screamed at him to keep Dick close. They were the same instincts that had him turning into a wolf once a month, sure, but that didn’t mean they were wrong. Jason knew all of it was probably nonsense, and yet still there seemed to be something there that hadn’t been there before. When Dick finally went home for the night, bundled up in a thick too red jacket, an ugly green scarf, and yellow rain boots like some kind of fashion disaster, Jason turned to Roy and asked him, “Do you think I’m crazy?”

“For what?” Roy replied, not looking up from where he was moving around bottles to make room under the bar for the new vodka they’d ordered.

“For letting Dick in, for dating him, for, God, for even getting to know him at all?”

Roy sighed a long suffering sigh and finally looked up.

“You’re absolutely crazy, and an idiot too, but it’s not your fault. You’re in love. That’s what idiots in love do. You go after people you’re not supposed to, you get the girl,” Jason crooked his head. “-guy, and you probably end the whole thing in a flaming ball of awful, but who cares? It’s about the experience Jaybird. Besides, sometimes things don’t end in a big flaming ball of awful, sometimes they work out, and if you never give it a chance, you’ll never know if it would’ve worked out.”

Jason nodded, and wiped at an already pristine beer glass.

“But what about the wolf?” He asked. The bar had long since been deserted. Roy shrugged.

“I’m not going to pretend you don’t have problems Jay, or that there won’t be challenges, but sometimes you just get lucky. Maybe life finally decided to throw you a bone.”

Jason wasn’t sure if he believed him, but he was falling for Dick, that much he knew for certain. He didn’t want to stop, not in the slightest, and so far things had been okay. Four full moons had passed mostly without a hitch, but Jason didn’t want to jinx anything.

“Who knows,” Roy said, finally standing up. “Maybe he’ll find out about the wolf, and maybe he won’t care.”

Jason put the glass down and didn’t reply.

 

October

October meant Halloween, which meant another big festival for Haly’s Circus. The full moon had passed earlier in the month, which meant Jason was free the enjoy the festivities. Dick had given him a free ticket to the festival with the condition that he come dressed up, so Jason had gone out to the store and, with complete awareness of the irony, bought a werewolf costume. It was oddly freeing to not have to pretend for a day. Lian had done his makeup and applied extra hair and teeth. He looked nothing like he did transformed and the makeup had taken way longer than he’d anticipated, but the utterly disgusted look on Roy’s face had been well worth it.

The completely besotted look on Dick’s face was just the icing on the cake.

“You’re like my very own Jacob,” Dick had sighed, completely unironically.

Dick was dressed similarly to how he normally was for the fortune telling booth, only with a little more flash and darker makeup. He looked truly mysterious now, and just creepy enough for Halloween. Dick met Jason at the gate and pulled him along, completely beside himself with excitement.

“My grandmother’s here!” He whispered giddily.

“What?” Jason asked. He’d met Dick’s parents already, and they liked him, but they were nothing compared to the famed Grandmother Grayson.

“My grandmother, she wanted to visit us and could only come down this week, so she’s here for the festival. She’s even doing readings, much to Haly’s complete and utter joy,” Dick laughed. Jason grinned at him but inside he was a mess of butterflies. He’d been worried to meet Dick’s parents but it was nothing compared to the tumultuous feeling that has sprung upon him now. He felt like a man being led to his death. He didn’t know why he was so nervous to meet Dick’s grandmother, he’d heard nothing but nice things about her, it was just that he felt a completely sudden and almost animal sense of paranoia. Grandmother Grayson was the real thing, supposedly. A Romani actually from Romania who claimed to really be psychic, and after witnessing Dick that day in the booth all those weeks ago, Jason was suddenly sure it was true. He was a little more susceptible to the supernatural now that he was part of it. He couldn’t sense it he didn’t think, but he didn’t need to sense the Grayson’s, not when Dick was practically throwing it in his face.

They finally made their way down to the booth, and Jason got his first real look at Grandma Grayson. She was true to form, was all he could say. She was dressed in classic Romani garb, a white blouse that clung to her upper shoulders, a thin purple scarf was wrapped in her gray hair. Her eyes were just as blue and sharp as Dick’s, and she was covered with different jewels, stones, and symbols. Her skirt ended just above her ankles and her boots looked old and worn, but sturdy, just like her. She smiled when she saw Dick, a smile which made her look much nicer than she had a moment ago. She’d looked solemn then, solemn and mysterious.

“There’s my little dragă,” she took Dick’s face in her hands and kissed his forehead. “You’re energy is strong today, iubit. You’re practically glowing!” She grinned and Dick laughed back.

The two of them looked practically otherworldly standing next to each other, dressed so traditionally. There was an air about them, Jason really could’ve believed they were psychic, and to be honest, he sort of already did.

“Bunică, I want you to meet somebody. This is my boyfriend, Jason,” Dick said, turning to wave at Jason. Jason walked forward and held out his hand.

“Hello,” he said. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

Dick’s grandmother looked him over, and instead of shaking his hand she turned his palm toward her. There were faint burn scars there from some past transgression Jason couldn’t remember, and she ran her fingers over them, examining.

“Bunică,” Dick whined, embarrassed. “I’ve told you about this. It’s bad manners to read somebody before you introduce yourself.” He looked apologetically at Jason, but Jason shrugged it aside. He really didn’t mind, as long as Dick’s grandmother liked him, what did he care how she introduced herself?

She looked up at him finally, with a dark twist to her mouth and fire in her eyes.

“You’re cursed,” she snapped at him, as if offended he hadn’t told her. Jason’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You filthy dog, dressed like the monster,” she spat. “You are cursed, you stay away from my grandson!”

“Bunică!” Dick gasped, pushing himself in front of Jason. Jason, who was shock still, completely baffled by the old woman. There was no doubt about it now, she was psychic, and she’d seen right through him. _You filthy dog, dressed like the monster._ She knew what he was. The thought came swiftly and with a wave of terror. She knew who he was and she didn’t want him anywhere near Dick. Who was he to disagree?

“Bunică, you’re being ridiculous, go back to the tent, I’ll meet you there,” Dick sighed, hands holding Jason’s own behind his back.

“You’re kind have been a curse on my people for generations. You think I do not know how to keep you away? You should leave while you still live,” she spat, shooting him one more dark look before storming away. Dick and Jason stood frozen for a moment, then Dick turned around with an embarrassed look on his face.

“I’m really sorry about her, sometimes she does this. Once we were in a coffee shop and she told the barista she was going to die within the year. Scared the poor girl half to death. I’m really sorry about that, she likes to be dramatic, it has nothing to do with you,” he said. Despite Dick’s disbelief Jason knew the truth. He was cursed, had been for years. He was a monster, and Dick’s grandmother was right. He suddenly had a great sweeping swell of pity for that poor barista.

Cursed though he was, Jason didn’t know what to do about it, or if he really even wanted to do anything about it. To stay away from Dick was impossible for him now, he knew that, but that didn’t change the fact that Dick’s grandmother had warned him, and he would be wise to heed her warning.

“Come on,” Dick said, frowning at the direction his grandmother had gone. “Let’s go get some cotton candy.”

Jason followed quickly behind as Dick led them to the cotton candy booth.

——

The next night Dick came to the bar wearing a new piece of jewelry. It was a silver necklace with a pentagram at the end of the chain. Jason couldn’t stop staring at it.

“It was a gift from my grandmother,” Dick said, fingering the pendant. “She said it’s supposed to keep evil away. I think she was talking about you, but here you are, right?”

“Right,” Jason laughed, keeping the swirling storm of emotions contained inside. He excused himself to the bathroom half an hour later and stared at the palm of his hand. He’d never bothered looking closely at the burn marks before. He’d run into so much trouble as a kid that he was certain it was just remnants of some punishment he couldn’t remember, but looking at them now it was clear as day. There were five points to the burns, a star, a pentagram.

Jason really was cursed.

 

November

November was a tough month for Jason. It was one of those horrifying years when there was a Blue Moon. A month with two full moons, and it was hell on Jason’s emotions. He’d gotten in dozens of little arguments with Roy, he’d been snapping at Dick all month, and overall he’d just been in a really bad mood. It all came to a head during the week of the second full moon the month. He and Dick were sitting at the bar after it had closed for the night, and Dick was trying to get Jason to go out with him for dinner, but Jason was tired, worn down by weeks of werewolf overtime, and all he wanted to do was fall onto his bed and sleep.

“Come on, it’s this amazing Mexican place just down the road, it’s open twenty-four-seven and they have the most amazing taco bar,” he grinned. Jason looked down at him with a frown. There were bags under his eyes, and his hair was in disarray; even Dick had noticed something was wrong with him. He probably just wanted to help.

“Not my scene,” Jason grunted at the glass he was working on.

“Then we can go somewhere else, I’m sure there’s a sandwich shop or something, we can-“

“I said no! God, Dick, can’t you get it through your stupid thick skull, no means no!” Jason snarled. Dick went silent. He looked at Jason with wide, hurt eyes. Then his eyes hardened, and Jason grew weary at the prospect of a fight. He really didn’t have the energy.

“What, so I’m stupid now?”

“Well you never seem to understand what I’m telling you,” Jason shot back. Dick stood suddenly from his stool.

“What the hell, Jason, I’m just asking if you want something to eat.”

“No, you’re nagging me like you’re my damn wife. We’re not married Grayson, so listen to me when I fucking speak to you.”

Dick crossed his arms, anger sparking through him. Jason knew he was being an ass, but it really didn’t matter when all he could feel was the bubbling aggression sweeping through him. The wolf had been riding him the whole month. The two full moons at either end of the month meant that he’d been on edge the whole time, even the weeks when he’d been free and clear from transformation. Now, with another one edging over the horizon, he was losing it. He should never have let Dick stay alone with him this close to the moon. He’d made the mistake before, and he was making it again.

“Is that what you really think of me?” Dick asked, his voice dangerously still. Jason sighed in exasperation, and slapped his hands against the bar.

“Don’t worry Grayson, it’s not like you were raised in a circus or anything, oh wait, you were,” he snarled. Dick jerked back like he’d been hit. He took one disgusted look at Jason and stomped off, not looking back.

“Sure, run away from your problems circus boy!” Jason shouted at his ass as he stormed out the door. Jason slapped his rag against the bar and began rubbing vigorously at a year old stain sitting on it’s gleaming lacquered surface. He heard the footsteps before he heard Roy.

“Wow, I know you can be a shithead on moon weeks, but that was a new kind of low. You better hope he forgives your stupid ass,” Roy said snippily as he began unloading a new case of schnapps. Jason shot him a glare, but Roy was immune to him by now.

“It wasn’t my fucking fault, I obviously didn’t want to go to his stupid fucking dinner.”

Roy looked at him like he’d grown a second head.

“Yeah, but man you overreacted, and you know you did. This is the wolf talking right now. I know the moon is tomorrow night, but you need to control yourself. You might be a raging beast by moonlight, but during the day you’re still a fucking person, and you’re still responsible for your actions. So go buy your boyfriend some flowers, and hope he forgives you. Idiot.” Roy turned away to finish unloading the schnapps. Jason felt his shoulders droop and he knew Roy was right. It was the wolf talking, walking, taking over. He was losing control, and he’d be even worse tomorrow, but he couldn’t go four days without apologizing, Dick would never forgive him. Which meant he had to go as soon as possible, maybe even tonight.

——

Jason went to a twenty four hour drug store and bought a sad looking bouquet of red roses, and a little bag of Ghirardelli chocolate squares, and began the short walk back to the circus grounds. Haly’s had long since parked themselves in Gotham, but Dick still lived in the trailer park with the other members of the circus. He said that leaving them would be like leaving family, and that he simply couldn’t do it. Jason, who’d been homeless by sixteen, and an orphan by seventeen, didn’t really get it.

He was let into the trailer park by the lion tamer, and was secretly glad that Dick’s grandmother had already left; the old woman hated him. She saw the monster in him, and was not hesitant to say so.

Jason found his way to Dick’s small silver trailer, and knocked on the door. His parent’s trailer was on the other side of the park, and this was his version of moving out.

Dick answered the door in sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a scowl.

“What the hell are you doing here, Jason?” He asked, glaring. Jason licked his lips and swallowed hard.

“I’m an asshole, and I know that, and it’s completely my fault. It’s just been a long month, and I’m so incredibly sorry for what I said. I was an idiot, and I was talking out of my ass, and I couldn’t let you go thinking that I believed any of that. So, here’s some stuff, and please forgive me,” he said sheepishly. Dick raised an eyebrow at him, and examined Jason’s tokens of forgiveness. He took the flowers first, and took a big long sniff of them. Then he grabbed the chocolates and examined the flavor.

“You’re lucky that I like dark chocolate raspberry, come in,” he sighed, walking back into the trailer, and letting Jason follow him. Jason had been in the trailer before, but it was always a sight to see. There were posters everywhere for different acts and festivals. Dick’s bed was covered in colorful throw blankets and soft fluffy pillows. His small sink was piled high with used cereal bowls, and there was a nice soft rug beneath Jason’s shoes. The whole place was as cozy as a shoebox could get, and Jason suddenly wondered that if Dick moved in with him, if he’d be intimidated by the sudden increase in space, or if he’d relish the ability to spread his unique brand of style to a larger surface area.

“That was kind of a shitty apology, you know,” Dick said, unwrapping one of the chocolates and popping it in his mouth. Jason nodded solemnly.

“I know. I’m not very good at them to be honest, but I had to try. I have to go out of town tomorrow, and I couldn’t stand the idea of leaving while you were mad at me,” he muttered. Dick quirked his head at him.

“You have to go out of town?” He asked. Jason nodded.

“My cousin’s sick and she wants me to help take care of her son for a few days. Shouldn’t be more than a week,” he said. The lie tasted sour of his tongue, but Dick was nodding along, like he believed it. It made Jason feel sick.

“Ok,” Dick said. He mused over the flowers for a moment before speaking again. “I’m going to put these in water, and once I’m finished I’ll forgive you, because I can’t be mad at you that long, but I still want to be petty.” Dick flashed him a small smile and Jason smirked.

“Of course, it’s your right.”

“Damn right it is,” Dick muttered. Dick pulled out an almost empty jam jar, cleaned it out and filled it with water for the flowers. He had Jason cut the flowers small enough to fit in the jar, and then arranged them nicely inside. Jason was impressed with his impromptu vase, and told him so. Dick grinned at him and shoved him onto the bed.

Dick settled on top of him, grinding his ass down against Jason’s crotch. Jason groaned and clutched at Dick’s slim hips.

“Just one thing, before I’m not mad at you anymore,” Dick said. Jason nodded up at him warily.

“Do you really think I’m stupid?” Dick asked, his eyes revealing his uncertainty. Jason sat up, wrapped his arms around Dick’s waist and looked him straight in the eye.

“You’re the smartest person I know, and I know Roy. You’re way smarter than me, and on top of that you’re beautiful and talented beyond belief. Nobody could ever match up to you Dick, you’re perfect,” Jason said fiercely, willing Dick to believe it. Dick blushed prettily, and he clutched at Jason’s hair.

“I figured,” he said, joking. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”

Jason grinned up at him and kissed him hard on the lips.

“How about I say it some more?” Jason asked, flipping Dick onto his back. Dick moaned in agreement.

 

December

Despite the good fortune of receiving the bar as a Christmas gift from Mrs. Haggard, Jason was not in good spirits. No, he was worried, very _very_ worried. He had reason to be worried as well. That month the third day of the full moon fell on December 25, Christmas. Not only did that mean he was out of commission for Christmas day, it also meant he was out of commission for Christmas week, and more importantly, his and Dick’s six month anniversary.

It was going to be a nightmare. He’d been trying to keep himself away from Dick on full moon weeks the last few months, and last month especially had only further proven the need to keep away. He couldn’t be that boyfriend that says horrible things and gets away with it, he just couldn’t. He wasn’t that kind of man. Before the bite he’d been moody, sure, but Roy had called it more brooding than anything else. Now there he was calling his boyfriend stupid and snapping at his best friend. He couldn’t let it get any further than that, so he was taking precautions this time. Precautions such as calling Dick at the beginning of the week, and saying he couldn’t spend their anniversary or Christmas together. Dick hadn’t taken it well, but Jason considered it a job well done. Even though Dick was furious at him, and he’d be paying for it big time, Jason knew it was for the best. This way Dick stayed out of harm's way, and by the time Christmas was over, Jason might even still have a boyfriend.

Unfortunately things didn’t go quite to plan.

Jason was in his living room, slamming his fists into the punching bag that could be hooked up to the living room ceiling for occasions such as this, when he heard pounding at the door. The full moon was later that day, he couldn’t see anyone in the condition he was in. Rage and aggression flowing through him, his animal nature taking control. He ignored the knocking, but it just got louder. After a while he heard one of his neighbors shouting complaints, and so he snarled at the punching bag, gave it one last hard punch, and ripped the door open.

“What?” He snarled, only to be faced with a furious looking Dick Grayson. He was bundled head to toe in winter clothing. It must have been snowing outside because there were white flakes on top of his ski cap. He barged past Jason and through the door, ignoring Jason indignant shout.  Dick was slamming open doors, looking through the whole apartment.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jason asked.

“Where is she?” Dick asked as he passed through the living room on the way to Jason’s bedroom.

“Where’s who?”

“The skank you’re cheating on me with, obviously. Why else would you want to cancel our Christmas _and_ anniversary plans?” Dick asked, shooting him a look.

“I’m not fucking cheating on you, jackass,” Jason snapped, snatching his gloves off. Dick slammed the last door closed and crossed his arms. His fists got tangled in his long wooly scarf, and Jason probably would’ve found it adorable if he hadn’t been so fired up.

“Well that’s the only explanation that makes sense! We’ve been dating for six months, but you just can’t come to anything with me this week? No anniversary dinner, no Christmas shopping, no holiday cheer, no nothing? What? Are you secretly dating an airline hostess, and this week just happens to be her week off?” Dick was furious. Jason could see it in the lines of his face. The crease between his eyebrows, the frown lines around his mouth, the angry squint of his eyes. He was absolutely enraged, and unfortunately, Jason was getting there as well.

“How about this, smart shit, how about Roy and Lian invited me to go with them to Jade’s house for Christmas, because Roy can’t stand to be around her without a fucking buffer, and he doesn’t want to disappoint Lian? How about that, Sherlock?” Jason had pulled that lie out of his ass, and it might even backfire on him. He wasn’t packed to go anywhere, and he had no idea where Roy and Lian were spending their holiday. Dick deflated like a balloon, he looked completely defeated.

“You could have just told me that, Jay! I’ve been worried you were cheating on me, worried you’d found someone better, but here you are, just spending Christmas with Roy. You could have just _told_ me! And what about our anniversary?” He asked.

“Dammit Dick!” Jason roared, his barely contained rage bursting forth. He hurled one of his wooden dinner table chairs into the wall just to hear it shatter. Dick flinched back, staring at Jason with wide scared eyes. The wolf smelt prey.

“Not everything is about you! Six months is nothing! It’s just a stupid fucking anniversary! There are more important things in the world that celebrating one stupid day!” The snarl that left his lips was more animal than human. He could practically feel the claws begging to burst from his fingertips, the eyes straining to bleed orange and tint his whole world into black and white and blood. A tear slipped down Dick’s frozen red cheeks, and he wrapped his arms around himself.

“What, is baby going to cry?” Jason sneered, getting closer to Dick. Dick shoved him back, but it was a weak, pitiful shove, and Jason just barked a laugh.

“Go home, _Dick,_ ” he spat the name like a curse. “I have shit to do.”

Dick didn’t need to be told twice. He practically ran out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him. Jason could still smell the fear and hurt on him, trailing him all the way out the door. It was the smell of prey. Jason barely held himself back from racing after him, ready to tear out that vulnerable throat, and snatched his bag off the table.

The punching bag wouldn’t do tonight. He’d need to get to the basement early.

——

When the week was over, and the animalistic fog had cleared from his head, Jason headed over to Dick’s trailer with a small Christmas tree, a bag full of presents, and a box of cake mix and icing. Dick was reluctant to let him in, and Jason could still see the fear on his face. Jason made himself as small and unassuming as possible. He was still tired and weak from the transformation, so it wasn’t hard.

“I have no excuse,” he said. “I shouldn’t even be here. What I did was unforgivable, and I don’t know how you can stand to look at me. I can only say I’m sorry so many times before it just sounds like words. I know that better than anyone, but you shouldn’t have to know it.”

That night Jason told Dick the story of his childhood. The story of his father, the mafia enforcer, and his mother, the drug addict, and all the days of beatings, and all the nights of taking care of overdose symptoms until he finally ran away when he was sixteen, after his mother finally killed herself with heroin. He told Dick how much of his life he’d spent living in fear of someone he was supposed to love, and how it made him physically ill to have put Dick through the same thing. He promised, swore on his life, that it would never happen again.

Dick forgave him, of course, people in love always do. Jason had never felt more like the monster he was, than when Dick looked him in the eye, gave him a small, beautiful smile, and said,

“It’s ok Jason, it’s alright.”

 

January

The new year passed without incident. Jason and Dick went to a new years party at the bar, kissed at midnight, and slowly began to heal. Dick read Lian’s palm and told her he saw a pony in her future. Roy told Jason it would be a stuffed pony, and that he’d be paying for it.

Their mending relationship was helped by the full moon that month, because it was on a week when nothing was happening. They didn’t go out on any dates before the moon, and during those four days Jason said it was his nephew’s birthday and he had to leave. Dick’s smile dimmed like he didn’t quite believe Jason, but he let him go anyway, and when Jason got back he took Dick to an ice skating rink and they spent the whole day there, falling on top of each other and laughing.

Though there had been lingering doubt in Jason’s mind that he was a monster and should never be in a relationship with another person, January seemed to almost cure him of that notion. He was happy, ridiculously so, and even though he’d made mistakes, horrible mistakes, he didn’t want to let go of what they had. Jason should’ve recognized it as the calm before the storm, but he was too happy to notice.

 

February

Valentine’s day was fast approaching, and Jason was only mildly worried. It fell the day before the full moon, and Jason had missed enough holiday’s. He couldn’t miss another one. So, despite some reservations about his control, he bought Dick a truly massive bouquet of different colored roses, and an even bigger tin of chocolates. Dick gave him a stuffed teddy bear holding a heart that said ‘I Love You Beary Much,’ and somehow procured him a bottle of truly expensive, truly delicious scotch.

“So, what’ve you got planned Mr. Todd?” Dick asked, a smile on his face and their Christmas argument completely forgotten. Jason hummed.

“I’m thinking a very romantic trip to the zoo where you can look at elephants all day, and then back to my place for dessert before dinner?” He waggled his eyebrows and Dick laughed, delighted by the idea.

“I love the zoo!” He cheered. Jason smiled and rolled his eyes.

“Gee I had no idea.”

Dick smacked him lightly on the arm, and led the way to Jason’s ancient chevy convertible.

The Gotham City Zoo was a really spectacular zoo. One of the best in the world, Jason had read somewhere. They had hundreds of animals; fish, mammals, reptiles, the works. The two of them spent hours there, almost the whole day. Dick was determined to see every animal before they left, which was far from an easy feat. Despite his mission to see every animal, he had gotten himself stuck at the elephant enclosure for at least half an hour, waving hello to all the elephants and bombarding Jason with elephant facts.

“Zitka used to look after me, you know. Sometimes my parents would leave me with her, like she was a babysitter. Now she looks at me disapprovingly whenever I do anything too dangerous in a show,” he laughed. Jason quirked an eyebrow.

“So not unlike your actual mother, then.”

Dick slapped at his arm playfully, “Shut up.”

When they finally left the elephant enclosure they stopped at the zoo cafe for lunch on animal themed plates. Dick got zebras, and Jason got elephants. Dick wouldn’t stop pleading until Jason gave up the elephant plate, with his food still on it. They ate contentedly, Jason enjoying Dick’s mac and cheese, and Dick enjoying Jason’s hotdog.

After lunch they stopped at the zoo shop. The place was filled to the brim with stuffed animals, plastic animals, grow your own dinosaur kits, and shelf after shelf of books on animals. There was a section of Valentine's Day themed trinkets, which Dick made a beeline for.

“This is so much fun, this was such a fantastic idea, Jay. I can’t thank you enjoy for this,” Dick smiled, examining a gray elephant covered in pink heart shaped polka dots. Jason smiled fondly down at him. His hair was in a disarray thanks to the chilly February wind. He was wearing that atrocious green scarf and bright orange fingerless gloves. The gloves really bothered Jason because his fingers kept getting cold, and he would ask Jason to hold his hands to warm them up. It was probably by design, and Jason didn’t mind as much as he pretended to.

Jason watched the smile unfold on his beautiful face, brightening his features and warming the cold winter day, and suddenly Jason had a thought. A thought so profound and ridiculous that he couldn’t help but say it out loud.

“I love you,” Jason said. Dick looked up at him, elephant forgotten. He looked shocked, but only for a moment, and then he broke out into a completely besotted, completely idiotic grin. He wrapped his arms around Jason’s neck, and kissed him soundly on the lips.

“I love you too, Jason,” he said into the kiss. Jason brought his arms up around him and hugged Dick’s body to his. They didn’t move for a long moment, and when they did, Jason bought that little polka dotted elephant, and Dick didn’t let it go for a second.

——

When they got to the wolf enclosure, Jason was the one who stopped. He frowned out at the animals stalking around their enclosure, watching the people, the prey. One of them caught Jason’s eye, and walked right up to the glass. The glass was six inches thick, and yet somehow Jason felt that he could just reach out and the wolf would be there. It looked up at him, gray eyes sharp and calculating. Jason felt his own eyes flash, and then the wolf began to howl. Before long all the wolves were howling, and Jason could barely hold himself back from joining them. It was the closest Jason’s wolf had been to the surface all day, and he quickly moved Dick along, trying to ignore the piercing gray eyes watching him leave.

At the end of the day Dick was raving about the zoo.

“The elephants were amazing! Zitka would love them, and the wolves, Jay! They were howling, how amazing was that! That’s like a once in a lifetime thing, that never happens!”

“Yeah,” Jason choked out. “How about those monkeys though, I love their tails,” he said, quickly changing the subject. It did the trick. Dick spent the next twenty minutes talking about the monkeys.

——

By the time their day was done, and they made it back to Jason’s apartment it was all they could do to keep themselves from ripping each other’s clothes off. Jason’s blood pressure spiked, lust flooding his senses. He tore Dick’s shirt in half to get at his chest and throat. He bit and sucked as Dick keened, rubbing hard and fast against Jason. Jason threw him to the bed, and settled on top of him, his animal brain singing. He tore at Dick’s jeans, ripping them off.

“Oh, god, Jason,” Dick moaned, arching his back, baring his soft, vulnerable belly and throat for Jason. All for Jason. Jason snatched off his underwear and spread his legs apart, barely sucking spit onto his fingers before stabbing at Dick’s hole with two mostly dry fingers. Dick made a hurt sound and shoved Jason back.

“Lube, jackass,” he panted. The fog cleared for a moment, and Jason snatched at the lube in his side drawer, haphazardly squirting some onto his hands. He prepped Dick quickly and inefficiently, and Dick moaned through it all. Jason gave his cock one cursory stroke before shoving in all at once. Dick screamed, head sailing back into the pillow. He slammed his fist against Jason’s chest.

“Too much,” he gasped out, but Jason wasn’t listening. The wolf had taken over. The adrenaline and the lust spurring it on. It burst its way into Jason’s brain, and Jason snapped his hips into Dick over and over, chasing the sensation. He wasn’t even hearing to Dick’s moans and shouts of pleasure, all he could feel was the wolf, staking its claim, making it’s mark. They came simultaneously, Jason snapping his hips in as far and as fast as he could go, and Dick bringing himself off. Jason bit hard into Dick’s neck, blood filling his mouth, and he could feel the wolf howl in triumph. He felt Dick push at his shoulders, and he stumbled back, accidentally pulling out, brain still in a wild haze.

“What the hell, Jason?” Dick snapped, pressing his fingers to his sluggishly bleeding shoulder. The marks weren’t too deep, but Jason had broken skin. Thick red blood welled up at the spots where his canines would be, and Jason could feel nothing but satisfaction at a job well done. Dick was staring at him with complete confusion. He didn’t really look angry, just confused.

“Sorry,” Jason said, still tasting iron on his tongue.

“Sorry? You fucking took a chunk out of my shoulder,” Dick huffed, baffled. Jason shrugged, and tugged him close, kissing him soundly. Dick shoved him back and Jason whined in displeasure. He tried not to liken himself to a dog in his head, but the comparison was there. Dick frowned down at his shoulder, and got up off the bed.

“I can’t believe you bit me,” he said, making his way to the bathroom mirror for a better look.

“Come on, Dickie, it was an accident,” Jason whined. Dick gave him an unimpressed look, and rinsed the bite off swiftly.

“Come on, come back to bed,” Jason said. Dick rolled his eyes.

“You can take a break mister. You’re in timeout,” he said, still playful. Jason stood from the bed, cock swinging between his legs, and plastered himself to Dick’s back. He held his hips in a hard, bruising grip, and Dick moaned, enjoying it up until Jason’s mouth made it’s way back to the bite, worrying at the skin. Dick shoved Jason off, turning around sharply.

“Jason, stop,” he said, no longer joking. The wolf prowled Jason’s chest, unhappy at being told off by it’s prey. Jason stalked closer.

“Come on, Dickie, it’s just a little bite, you don’t have to be a baby about it.” He pulled Dick to him again, kissing his neck and leaving little hickey’s in his wake. Dick moaned, but pushed Jason off once more.

“Jay, come on, no more of this. I perform in front of an audience for a living, I can’t just be covered in bruises.”

Jason’s hand slapped down suddenly against the sink, making Dick jump.

“Dammit Dick, they’re just fucking hickeys, grow a damn pair,” he snapped. Dick crossed his arms.

“Look, if I don’t want you to bite me, then you’re not going to bite me.” Dick was silent for a moment. “Maybe I should just leave,” he said suddenly, reluctantly. The wolf in Jason snapped. He couldn’t let his prey get away.

“No,” Jason snarled, slamming Dick back against the wall. Dick’s head cracked against the mirror, breaking the glass and leaving blood in its wake. Jason pulled away sharply, dropping Dick like a hot rock. Dick fell slightly, but caught himself. He touched the back of his head, seeming stunned to see blood come away on his fingertips. Jason looked at Dick with a horrified expression on his face. Dick just looked confused. Jason moved all at once, he grabbed clothes and wrapped the both of them up, not even giving Dick time to think. He herded Dick into his car, and drove them immediately to the hospital. They were both silent the entire time.

The tension in the car was thicker than soup. Jason was green with nausea. He felt like he was going to throw up at any moment.

“Jason, I think I’m alright,” Dick said as they sped through the busy Gotham streets. Jason shook his head. All he could see was his father, big and imposing and monstrous, thundering along drunk and disorderly, slamming Jason into walls, whipping him with belts. Jason was a monster. There was no question about it anymore. This was it, this was the end of it. He’d tried his best, he’d tried to be human, he’d tried to love someone. He’d tried to have a relationship, and this was what had happened. He knew he had no control, he knew it going in and he still called Dick, still asked him on a date.

“Jason, listen to me,” Dick pleaded. Jason shook his head.

“Hospital,” was all he said.

“Jason!” Dick snapped, temper finally breaking. “I’m fine, it’s just a cut. Take me to Haly’s, we have a doctor on staff who can look at it.”

After some more cajoling, Jason finally gave in and drove Dick back to the circus. Dick got out of the car slowly, one of Jason’s dishtowels held firmly against the back of his head. Jason could only stare at him, could only feel sicker.

“I’ll see you,” Dick said finally, before walking off. Jason didn’t even watch him go, he simply sped home, blowing through stop lights and yield signs, hoping someone would hit him.

When he got home the elephant with the heart polka dots was sitting on the dinner table. Jason took one look at it and threw up in the sink. After he’d wiped and rinsed his mouth, he made a beeline for the kitchen cabinets. One of the cabinets housed his parents wedding china and, more importantly, their silverware.

Jason pulled out a long silver knife, dulled and tarnished from lack of care and use, and sliced across his arm. The pain was familiar, deserved. He made another slash across his chest, and one final one across his cheek. Silver was toxic to werewolves, they would scar.

 

March

Jason didn’t see Dick again until March, when Dick walked into the bar on a Tuesday night dressed in sweats and his makeup from the show. He sat down at the edge of the bar, and waited until Roy convinced Jason to talk to him.

“Hey,” Jason said, eyes on the bar, unable to look Dick in the eyes. Dick was silent for a moment, a long moment in which Jason waited in anxiety and dread, before a soft gentle hand touched his cheek. Dick raised Jason’s eyes to his, and he examined Jason’s cheek with furrowed brows.

“What’s this?” Dick asked, running a finger along the thin pale scar. Jason wished it was uglier.

“Nothing,” Jason muttered, pulling his face from Dick’s hands. Dick frowned.

“How’s the head?” Jason asked, barely able to bring himself to say it. Dick pursed his lips.

“Fine. It was a small cut, head wounds just bleed a lot,” he said. He was probably trying to be reassuring.

It didn’t work.

“I miss you,” Dick said. Jason looked away. “I went to the zoo the other day with the knife thrower's family. It made me think of you.”

Jason didn’t say anything for a long time.

“Dick,” he began, sure of what to say, but unsure of how to say it. “This has to be it. This can’t happen again. I can’t be-“ he cut himself off, but Dick understood. He always understood.

“You’re not your father, Jason. You’re you, and you’re a good person. A great person, and I love you,” Dick reached for Jason’s hand, but Jason snatched it back.

“Please, Jason,” Dick pleaded. “This is what therapy’s for. I know some great people, we can get you help, we can-“

“There is no help, Dick,” Jason said, turning away. “Not for this. Not for monster’s like me.”

Dick sighed. He grabbed a bar napkin and wrote down a date and a time.

“My birthday’s this month. I’d love it if you came,” he said, smiling unsurely. Jason glanced down at the date. Of course he couldn’t go, even if he wanted to. It was the date of the full moon.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” Jason said. “Goodbye, Dick.”

Jason turned away to help another customer. When he looked back Dick was gone, but the napkin was still there.

——

On March 21st Dick Grayson sat in the middle of the big top, cake laying uneaten beside him. His mother walked up to him, a soft smile on her face.

“Something wrong with the cake?” She asked. Dick startled, but relaxed when he realized it was her.

“No, it’s fine.”

She nodded, but didn’t leave. Moments later Dick turned to her again. “Did you ever believe bunică’s old stories?” he asked suddenly. “You know, the psychics, the vampires, the,” he hesitated, “werewolves?”

Mary considered his question carefully, before finally nodding.

“When I was little she used to tell them so realistically. The people she’d talk about, they seemed too real to be made up. And her stories were never from any books, any myths, you know? They were always homemade, like they were war stories almost, personal stories. Of course, I grew up and I grew to know better, but for a time they were real, yes.”

Dick nodded, “Thank you, mama.” She kissed his forehead.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for,” she said. Dick smiled at her, and left the party. He made his way to his trailer, and knew suddenly, with such clarity, what he was looking for. His grandmother was psychic, he knew that now. It was an epiphany that had been a long time coming, ever since he sad down and did tarot for Jason all those months ago. He remembered the sensation that had overtaken him, the way the words had flowed with no regard to whether or not he’d thought to speak them. It was like he’d been in a trance, because he had been, he’d been giving a premonition. It hadn’t really dawned on him until after Valentine’s Day, when he’d realized how accurate the words had been. With that realization came the one that he’d had the same feeling dozens of times within the last year. The feeling of not being able to help the words he spoke. He’d been having real premonitions since he met Jason, and it didn’t take too much of a leap to realize that if that was true, then other things his grandmother said were probably true as well. He remembered her calling Jason a dog, saying he was dressed like the monster, that he was cursed. Dick remembered lots of stories about curses. The Romani had cast many curses over the years, but only one had anything to do with dogs.

The Wolfman curse.

It had been his grandmother’s favorite story to tell. The story of the Wolfman. He was an unfortunate man who’d angered the Romani, and had been cursed to take the form of a raging beast every full moon. His grandmother told him all about how that particular curse had backfired on the Romani, because not only did the Wolfman kill them, but he could also pass on the curse while transformed. The Romani who survived the first night of the curse had been horrified, and had run, desperate to find a way to kill the Wolfman before they returned. They discovered that wolfsbane hurt the Wolfman, and that silver killed him. By the time they had figured it out it was too late, and the Wolfman had already turned dozens of people. The curse had spread, and the Romani had no way of stopping it.

Now, all these generations later, Jason had been infected by the curse of Dick’s people, and it was Dick’s job to help him.

There was no real cure for the curse, that much his grandmother had been clear about, but the Romani, in an attempt to rectify their mistake, had come up with spells, rituals, and meditations that would help control the rage, help control the wolf. Dick had the book with these rituals. They were all stored in the same book with the Wolfman legend, and all the information about a werewolf that anyone could ever need. His grandmother had made it a point to leave it with him after Halloween; Dick now realized why.

Dick pulled the thick tome from the top cabinet in his trailer. It was a large leather bound book that looked older than Gotham itself. It had a pentagram burned into it’s cover, and the words Lupus Vir written on the cover in swirly red writing. He opened it and searched desperately for the ritual he was looking for. It was a sort of cross between magic and meditation. It would allow him to join Jason in his mind while transformed, and help guide him into calming down, and in turn calming the wolf.

When he finally found the ritual instructions he bookmarked the page, and grabbed the ingredients from his stores. His grandmother insisted he be well stocked, like a real fortune teller, despite the fact that Dick had never believed in any of it until now. He was suddenly incredibly grateful for it.

Dick packed everything into a backpack and made his way to the bar. He barged in and headed straight for Roy.

“Roy,” he gasped, stopping sharply at the bar. Roy looked up at him in confusion.

“You know Jason isn’t here, right?” He asked. Dick nodded.

“I know, Roy, I know everything. I know what he is. It was my people that cursed him, and I know how to help him,” Dick rushed out, quickly and quietly, as not to disturb the other patrons. “I just need to know where he is.”

Roy bit his lip and looked down the line of patrons.

“Meet me out back,” he bit out finally. Dick didn’t hesitate before taking off.

Moments later Roy met Dick in the back alley behind the bar.

“What the hell do you mean by your people cursed him?” Roy asked first. Dick sighed, annoyed at the waste of precious time.

“The Wolfman- sorry, the werewolf curse is a Romani curse. My grandmother told me the story of the original werewolf. It was a mistake made by the Romani, and now Jason is suffering because of it. Look, the Romani have been trying to rectify this mistake for generations, and even though there’s no real cure, there are ways of calming the wolf, making it nonviolent. I can help Jason, I just need to know where he is.”

Roy chewed on his lower lip, obviously unsure. “What do you mean no real cure?”

“My grandmother used to say that there was only one way to cure a werewolf,” Dick began.

“And that is?”

“To kill it.”

“Oh,” Roy looked crestfallen, but Dick simply didn’t have the time for it.

“That’s obviously not what I want to happen, but if Jason continues like this he’ll hurt somebody, and I can’t let that happen either. I can help him, I just need to _know where he is!”_

Roy sighed.

“He’s in the basement of the abandoned Wayne mansion. The one Bruce Wayne burned down ten years ago before he disappeared, I think there’s caves down there or something.”

Dick flashed Roy a smile.

“Thanks, Roy!” He shouted, running as fast as he could away from the bar and toward Jason.

——

Dick got to the Wayne mansion a little before one in the morning. The moon was high above the burnt out husk of a house, and Dick couldn’t hear anything. No birds, no animals, no sound but the rustling of the wind. It was like they knew there was an alpha predator nearby, knew they had to get away. Dick made his way quickly into the house, and found the door to the basement easily. It was bolted and chained shut. Dick guessed that Roy probably let Jason out in the morning. The key was sitting in a pot on the floor next to the door. Dick cleared away some debris from in front of the door, and drew a quick circle in chalk. After drawing a pentagram in the center of the circle, Dick pulled out five wolfsbane candles and set each at a point of the star. He lit the candles and sat in the middle of the circle. He closed his eyes and rested his hands on his knees.

“Eu sunt lupul. Lupul e eu,” he began to chant. _I am the wolf. The wolf is me._ “Eu sunt lupul, lupul e eu.”

A heartbreaking howl burst from behind the door, and Dick began to chant louder. “Eu sunt lupul, lupul e eu!”

Another howl, and something large and heavy slammed itself against the door. The chains rattled and the wood groaned. Dick only chanted louder.

“Eu sunt lupul, lupul e eu! _Eu sunt lupul, lupul e eu!”_ He roared, matching the roar coming from behind the wooden door. Dick felt the world tilt and he opened his eyes, gasping at what he saw. He was standing in the middle of a street in Gotham, a street Dick recognized. He was standing in Crime Alley. He looked around, but didn’t see Jason. He looked up at the line of apartments and noticed that they were all dark except one, which shone yellow from lamplight. On a hunch Dick walked into the apartment building, and made his way up three flights of stairs to the apartment with the light on. He walked through the dark decrepit hallway and smelled urine and mold among other unsavory things. At the end of the hall there was a door with light bleeding out from the crack at the bottom. Dick tried the handle and found it unlocked. He walked inside only to see an empty, silent room. It was a small apartment. The floorboards were stripped bare of varnish, and the nails were poking up through the cracks. There was a flea bitten couch sitting in front of a small box TV with satellite antennae sticking out of the top. The kitchen was covered in pale blue linoleum that had long since begun cracking. The walls were doused in peeling wallpaper and the whole place stunk of sweat. There were three doors off the main room, one which had to be the bathroom, and two of which were most likely bedrooms. One of the doors was open, and a sliver of light peeked out from the gap. Dick pushed gently against the door and saw a child’s bedroom inside. Despite it clearly being a child’s room due to the size of the bed and the Star Wars pajamas littered on the floor, it had none of the things a child’s bedroom should have. No toys scattered across all surfaces, no posters on the walls, not even a nightlight.

On the bed, curled in on himself, was a small dark haired little boy dressed in too large jeans, and a stained t-shirt.

“Hello?” Dick asked, touching the boy gently on the shoulder. The boy turned around and wide terrified blue eyes met Dick’s. Dick knew immediately who the little boy was.

“Jason,” Dick anguished. Jason’s little black eyebrows twitched together in confusion.

“Who are you?” He asked. Dick debated whether or not the truth was the right decision in this scenario. It wasn’t as if he’d gone back in time. This was Jason’s psyche, and Jason knew Dick, little boy or no.

“It’s me, Jason, it’s Dick. I’m your friend,” he said, smiling softly at the little boy. Slowly Jason unfurled himself from his protective ball, and he examined Dick’s face with the scrutiny of someone used to lies.

“Do I know you?” Jason asked, his voice oddly high and sweet. Dick nodded.

“Yeah, we’re friends,” Dick repeated. Jason still looked unsure, but the scrutiny didn’t last much longer, because moments later loud thundering footsteps sounded from the hallway. Jason’s eyes grew wide, and fear shot through them like bullets.

“No,” Jason gasped, backing away from Dick. The front door to the apartment slammed shut, and after a moment’s silence, a booming voice sounded from the main room.

“Jason!” It was a man’s voice, brutal and deep.

Jason didn’t move. He seemed glued to the bed.

“Don’t make me come in there and get you!” The voice bellowed. Jason shot up, rushing to the door like a man rushing to his doom, and quickly slipped out. He seemed to have forgotten Dick was there. Dick followed Jason into the next room, and what he saw shocked him. Standing before him was Willis Todd, Jason’s father. Dick knew immediately that it was Jason’s father because they looked just like each other. Willis had the same dark hair and handsome, manly features. He looked older though, graying around the temples, and his beer gut was pronounced. The biggest difference between he and Jason, however, was that Willis’ eyes, surrounded by the tell-tale yellowing of a heavy smoker and drinker, were brown, whereas Jason’s were blue.

The probable source of Jason’s blue eyes wobbled in after Willis. A pretty blonde woman with large fake breasts and a heavily made up face stumbled into the room, and collapsed drunkenly onto the couch. She pulled a cigarette from her purse, and lit it quickly. Only after a puff did she seem to relax.

“Come here, boy,” Willis snarled. He was just as drunk as his wife, but unlike her, he was a mean drunk.

Jason ambled forward slowly, and Willis gripped his shoulder roughly, pulling him forward.

“Where the fuck is dinner, you little shit?” He snapped. Jason’s eyes were wide and terrified and suddenly it clicked for Dick. The Romani curse, it wasn’t just becoming a werewolf, it was what you faced when trapped inside the beast. The real curse wasn’t becoming a monster, you could contain a monster, no, the real curse was this, right here, on repeat for four days every month for as long as you lived.

Dick was horrified.

“I- I-“ Jason stuttered out. Willis lost his patience and threw Jason to the floor.

“Useless piece of shit, I can’t count on you for anything, can I?” He snapped. Jason didn’t bother to pick himself up, Willis came at him again anyway, slamming a boot into his gut. Jason let out a pained gasp, and Willis rolled his eyes.

“God I couldn’t be more disappointed in you, you can’t even stand up for yourself. Jesus. Just stay down you little fucker,” Willis kicked Jason again, knocking him into the wall, and Dick rushed forward. Jason’s eyes were squeezed shut in pain, and his little arms were wrapped around his ribs.

“Jason, Jay, come on, listen to me, please Jay, it’s me. Please, look at me,” Dick pleaded. Slowly two bright blue eyes opened in slits and looked up at Dick.

“Jason, listen to me. You’re trapped in your own mind. This is the real curse of being a werewolf, this right here. You need to get up and fight it like I know you can. You need to stand up, and you need to show your father who’s in charge. You’re not a little boy anymore Jason, you’re a man, and you can take him.”

Dick could see Jason’s eyes begin to recognize him, but he wasn’t quite there.

“You’re not just any man, you know. You’re a man I love very much. A man I’d never, _ever_ give up on. You’re strong and terrifying, yes, but you’re also the most gentle and kindest man I’ve ever known. You’re beautiful and you’re perfect, you’re my Jason.” Dick could feel tears begin to bleed into his eyes. Behind him, Willis Todd was getting angry again, and Jason’s mother took another long drag. Willis began to make his way towards them, but before he got there Jason stood. As he moved from the floor to standing, he transformed into the Jason that Dick knew, the man, his Jason.

Now that they were standing side by side, Dick could see the resemblance between Jason and Willis more clearly, and he could also see the differences. Jason was taller, and broader. While Jason’s expression was one of temporary anger, Willis was just mean looking.

“You bastard,” Jason bit out. Willis raised his fist, but Jason was faster. He slammed his fist into Willis’ face, shattering his teeth and his cheekbone. Jason didn’t stop there. He kicked and punched and beat Willis down until the man was a bleeding broken mess on the floor. Jason’s mother was staring at him like she didn’t recognize him. Jason raised one bloody hand and with all the force of twenty four years of pain, he slammed his fist down into Willis’s nose, breaking it with a loud sickening crack, and knocking the man out completely. Jason stood slowly, and simply stared down at the bloody wreckage of his father’s body. He turned to see his mother, staring at them both with surprise on her face. After a moment she simply shrugged, and took another drag before going back to ignoring them.

Jason’s shoulder slumped as he turned to Dick. He looked at Dick warily, like he was certain of being condemned. Dick ran to him and wrapped Jason up in his arms, holding him tight and refusing to let go.

“Oh God, Jason I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” he gasped into Jason’s chest. Jason’s bloody hands came up around Dick’s waist.

“What are you sorry for, pretty bird?” he asked, eyes shut tight.

“The werewolf curse, it’s a Romani curse. The Romani- their magic is real, and it created the thing that bit you, and I’m so sorry.”

Jason just squeezed Dick tighter.

“It’s alright, it’s not your fault. How are you even here?” He asked, finally pulling back. Dick took Jason’s face in his hands and examined it. The small scar still sat across his cheek, and there was blood scattered across his face, but his eyes were brighter than they’d been in a long time.

“More Romani magic, actually,” Dick said sheepishly. “My grandmother left me a book about werewolves before she left after Halloween. There’s all kinds of spells and rituals in there. I did one that’s supposed to calm down the wolf enough that he’s no longer a danger. I’m really glad it worked,” he laughed lightly. Jason smiled and hugged him tight again.

“Thank you, Dick,” he said finally. Dick smiled and shut his eyes.

When he opened them again he was back on the floor of the Wayne mansion. First he put out the candles, it wouldn’t do to set another fire in the old house. Then he picked up the key from the pot on the floor, and carefully turned the lock, pulling the chains from the basement door. Dick put his hand to the old wood, but there was no sound from inside. Slowly, he opened the door, only for his heart to stop as he came face to face with a werewolf.

Jason in wolf form was truly terrifying. He was several inches taller than normal, and even broader. Razor sharp claws protruded from his massive hands, and he was covered in fur. His eyes were large and an unnatural doggish yellow. His mouth protruded a little, and massive fangs peeked out from behind his lips. Though wildness still lurked behind his eyes, he was calm.

“Jason?” Dick asked, careful not to get any closer.

“Dick,” Jason sighed, smiling and revealing even more fangs. Dick smiled back and slumped in relief.

“You’re you,” Dick said. Jason nodded.

“All thanks to you,” he said. Dick lifted his hands to Jason’s face and felt the fur there. It was soft and coarse, not unlike dog fur. It was just as black as his hair.

“You’re very handsome, for a canine,” Dick said. Jason rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, shut up and kiss me.”

Dick grinned and wrapped his arms around Jason’s furry neck. Jason tugged Dick to him, and kissed him soundly. The fangs poked dangerously at Dick’s lips, but they remained harmless.

 

April

“So this one does what?” Jason asked, looking warily at the necklace in Dick’s hand. It was a small pentagram hanging on a leather strap. The metal it was made of looked tarnished and old.

“It’ll keep you calm as the moon approaches. No more violent outbursts, no more throwing your boyfriend into mirrors. That’s seven years of bad luck, you know,” Dick said, smirking down at Jason. Jason shifted uncomfortably in his seat and took the necklace.

“And since the calming ritual worked so well last time, I don’t see any reason to try to do anything else,” Dick said, flipping through the werewolf book again.

“Are you sure you shouldn’t call your grandmother?” Jason asked. Dick shrugged and Jason sighed. They’d adapted to their new lives fairly well. Dick, who had embraced his status as a real fortune teller, had thrown himself into researching the werewolf curse, as well as his own abilities. He’d found a spell to enchant a pentagram to keep Jason’s animal instincts at bay in the days leading up to the full moon, as well as several calming meditative techniques he’d had Jason take up in the meantime.

He’d called his grandmother several times in the last month asking advice on his own abilities as well. She’d sent him another book, detailing techniques to control and harness his abilities, and had promised to come to Gotham again in May to help them both. Jason was just glad she didn’t still want to kill him.

They’d also grown much closer since the events of Dick’s birthday, and now that Dick knew Jason’s secret, he was no longer worried about cheating, and they were no longer fighting about missed dates. Dick planned to be with Jason for every full moon, and had no intention of breaking up with him anytime soon.

“I’ve already called her today, I can’t call her multiple times a day, she’ll yell at me,” Dick replied. Jason rolled his eyes.

“I understand that Dickie, but the full moon is in four days, and I’m worried,” Jason said, frowning up at Dick. Dick sighed, and slid into Jason’s lap. Jason’s hands went down Dick’s back to his ass, which he squeezed instinctively, making Dick smile.

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. I’m a very competent psychic, you know. Plus because I’m psychic, I’d know if something bad was going to happen.”

Jason shrugged, “I guess.”

“No, no guess, it’ll be fine, I promise.”

And it was fine. That month, and the next month, and every month after.

**Author's Note:**

>   
>  On the Romanian - it's from google translate.  
> Bunică: Grandma  
> Dragă: Sweetheart  
> Iubit: Darling


End file.
